Word In Your Ear

Steve Hackett’s seven years in Genesis get re-explored when he tours in October, along with ‘solo gems’ from the records he’s made since, the latest ‘the Roaring Waves’, a collaboration with old pal Steve Rothery. He looks back here at defining moments in the Genesis story such as the stage props, the early American tours and Phil Collins when he met him having just auditioned for Zeffirelli and being “all fur coats and girlfriends”. Along with … … when bands stood on fishboxes if there wasn’t a stage … playing harmonica through his nose and “open...

Mari Wilson has drunk deep of all that London nightlife has to offer, from a London Transport social club in Wembley to a posh venue in Chelsea via the Cooks Ferry Inn in Edmonton, and she remembers it well. Here she marks the release of her new album “Girl About Town” by talking about:•⁠ ⁠making bacon sandwiches for Mott The Hoople•⁠ ⁠entertaining her dad’s mates with her Alma Cogan impression•⁠ ⁠Half of Scotland coming to stay for the Home Internationals•⁠ ⁠touring in a Commer van•⁠ ⁠taking her “Klute” hairstyle to watch Stray and the Pin...

Another over-heated week put through the conversational air-conditioner, which involves … … the man who got rich writing words that could never be sung … Anna Bullock? Stefani Germanotta? People who’d never have made it if they hadn’t changed their names … and the best stage name ever! … Marco Pirroni’s jukebox … when the Rock'n’Roll rulebook declared ‘Thou Shalt Not Dance!’ … how David Dundas made a fortune from just four notes … Ringo, Dylan, Hank Marvin, Bill Wyman and...

Marco Pirroni’s moment in the sun was big, lucrative but incredibly short. It was under a year from Adam & the Ants’ first hit to their last and immediate break-up. Adam, he remembers, was the perfect writing partner – driven, intensely competitive and with “a pathological fear of only being Number 2”. He’s got no regrets, hasn’t had to do day’s work since, and looks back here at …… being the first band writing songs for the video age… “you can’t confuse fans buying records with love, it’s nothing personal”… Telstar, Fireball XL5...

The Specials have officially disbanded, bowing out with a swansong album recorded in the ruins of Coventry Cathedral in 2019. Horace Panter looks back at the first shows they played - when Jim Callaghan was still PM! - and the rigours of mastering ska when some of the group thought it was “old man’s music”. Along with … … the dignified way for any band to retire … the 2-Tone tour of 1979 – “like a school trip with no teachers” … bonding with Terry Hall over comedian Ken Platt: ‘I won't take me coat off, I'm not stop...

As this week’s news hurtles over the net, we sort the aces from the double-faults. The final score …  … Madonna, Shakira, Chris Martin and World Cup 11-minute half-time overload! … how many Stones albums were “the best since Exile On Main Street”? … Kevin Rowland’s heart-breaking songs about Life’s Third Act … 10 good reasons to miss the Nineties … Country & Western is about travelling through the vast geography of America. “Go 200 miles in Britain and you fall off the edge” … Florian Pilkington-M...

We first saw Kevin in ‘77 wearing jodhpurs onstage with his art-punk band the Killjoys! He’s formed a new version of Dexys, made an album, starts a tour in October, and looks back here at central moments in his life, some recent ones so huge and affecting “that I put them to music” and they’ll be performed as a drama in the first half of these upcoming theatre shows. This touches - in vivid detail - on bands that inspired him, repaired relationships, a health crisis, what it took to be a singer in the first place and what’s req...

This week’s penalty shoot-out of news sorts the surefire hits from the over-the-bar misses. That final score again … … what Morrissey’s only gone and done now … when your logo’s worth than your songs … Taylor Swift’s wedding and how Sly Stone got there first … do musicians care about awards?… Divine Comedy, Jonathan Richman, Fountains of Wayne, Zappa: why are ‘humorous’ records so divisive?… happy 200th birthday Stephen Foster, the man who invented the pop song!… and cover versions of his songs you’...

The blistering heat of 1976 burnt various things onto the memory – standpipes, strikes, Entebbe, ‘Confessions’ movies, Jeremy Thorpe – but most of all the records that became its soundtrack, some of them revolutionary, others begging for extinction. John L Williams captures the moment in ‘Heatwave: the Summer of 1976, Britain at Boiling Point’ and a paints of picture of a country on the brink of a vast pop-cultural shift. We talk to him here about … … violence at gigs and football and on Derek & Clive albums … dumb people pretending to be clever (prog rock) and clever people preten...

Nige Tassell fell in love with the literary allusions of Prefab Sprout when at school and his new book ‘Truly Gifted Kids’ tells their unique and inscrutable story – and involves some delightfully off-road “deerstalker” investigation. You’ll find self-sabotage, square pegs in round holes, the eternal pressure to have hits, and a devoted portrait of ringmaster Paddy McAloon that leaves you convinced there’s never been anyone quite like him before or since. This sparks off in a million directions, these among them … … the lure of bands who'd clearly been to the library and were unlikely to have a...

Tapping the barometer of news to see what’s blistering or stormy, which this week includes … … “The Man can’t bust our music!”: the crimes and misdemeanours of Clive Davis … the single biggest change in our lifetimes ... when did musicians become ‘artists’? … Johnny Marr’s guitar habit … unlimited cash and what we’d spend it on … Madonna smoking at Paris Fashion Week hoping someone would try to stop her … why Dave doesn’t own any Arista records...

Seven hundred fans have contributed to ‘Gary Numan: A People’s History’, a lavishly published compendium of memories of discovering, hearing and watching him over the 50 years he’s been making music. As you might imagine, he’s immensely touched, not least because – in this honest and extremely modest conversation – he feels his roller-coaster career was down to “perseverance not God-given talent” and that if he hadn’t come along, that devotional space in his fans’ lives would have been filled by someone else. He talks to us here from his home in Los Angeles and touches on … … the extent o...

David Gray went through the roof with his White Ladder album in 2000 and he’s toured and recorded ever since, ending this summer’s loop at Latitude. He talks to us here about the rigours of seeing bands when you lived in rural Wales and the hilarious, hard-won lessons of the first gigs he played himself and every possible shade of crowd reaction. It’s an absolute whirlwind from start to finish and features ... ... playing weddings, clubs, festivals and a Welsh village regatta … the role of music in the construction of your chara...

Digging deep in the icebox of news to choose the following lightly chilled refreshments … … 500 Miles, Wonderwall, Yes Sir I Can Boogie(?): what does it take to be a football anthem? … Gorillaz brilliant reinvention of the “guest appearance” … Jerry Dammers' father was the Dean of Bristol Cathedral? Siouxsie’s dad milked venom from snakes? … Rod Stewart’s “laryngitis”- aka being on a private jet to watch Scotland play in Boston! … how they’re celebrating Syd Barrett’s 80th … the godawfullest albu...

Peter Frampton, for goodness sake! Part of our lives at Word In Your Ear since we were teenagers. Played guitar on national telly when he was 14. Joined the Herd at 16 and Humble Pie two years later. Had the biggest-selling album in American history in 1976 and now releasing his first new record in 16 years. From his home in Nashville, he looks back here – with great modesty, humour and affection - at how he adjusted to such mountainous success and to “when it all came crashing down” while throwing in a winning impression of George Harrison. This too …   … the Her...

‘Graceland’ was an almighty gamble for Paul Simon, a costly, high-risk departure from the music he’d been making and a complex international venture. And a game-changing, worldwide triumph. When Ashley Kahn taught a course about it at New York University, Simon turned up to contribute. His book ‘Days Of Miracle And Wonder’ tells the story of what inspired the album, the way it was recorded and the global reaction when it arrived in 1986. We talk to him here about … … the bootleg cassette of township jive that inspired the Graceland project  … fraying relations w...

Kate’s an old pal of ours from Word magazine who writes scintillating columns and profiles for the New Statesman and Observer. We loved her book ‘Men Of A Certain Age: My Encounters With Rock Royalty’ – just out in paperback! – where she relives her meetings with a variety of legends, eccentrics and old lags whose music she finds particularly compelling and wonders what they all have in common. This typically funny and colourful conversation stops off at … … the attractive fallibility of rock stars past their peak … a lifetime’s devotion to Paul Simon <...

Amid much parping of vuvuzelas, the week’s news stories sprint onto the pitch. And these make it to the quarter-finals … … Dua Lipa’s mega-wedding and its echoes of Mick & Bianca … when did publicity turn into “perpetual planetary attention”? … Chris Martin “curating” the World Cup Final half-time show … if you can’t stand the noise, move out of Soho! … watching Rufus Wainwright do Judy Garland   … when Madonna was troubled by helicopters … JBs’s Dudley, Mr Pickwicks, the Band On...

Dave Balfe was a key player in late ‘70s Liverpool, joined Big In Japan and the Teardrop Explodes, co-founded Zoo Records and, later, Food who signed and launched Blur. It’s fascinating to hear how he’s adapted to promoting music now with his new band Late Transmissions. We talk to him here about the landmarks moments that mapped out his life, among them … … growing up in the Wirral and its patchouli-scented record shops … seeing Wings and Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust tour in Liverpool … how it felt to be immortalised...

Star Ratings are now ubiquitous and inescapable and it’s not just music, films and books. Everything we encounter tends to be rated which colours our judgement before we try it. Choice can be paralyzing but do we read anymore or just count? Benji Wilson’s ‘Rate This Book: How Star Ratings Took Over the World’ traces their origin – back to 350 BC! – paints a picture of modern life and wonders here where we’re heading, along with … … Aristotle’s 2,500 year-old system of star-rated animals … how Michelin cooked up starred restaurants to get you to wear out your...